


Academy days - Fitzsimmons From the Beginning

by lady_smellen



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel
Genre: Boiler Room, Enemies to Friends, F/M, FitzSimmons - Freeform, Neighbours, SHIELD Academy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-25 18:33:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2631986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_smellen/pseuds/lady_smellen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How I imagine Fitz ans Simmons meeting at the academy. I am trying to keep as close as possible to information given by the show so that it can remain plausible for as long as possible. This is my very first attempt at fanfiction... please be kind and also please leave a comment :) Also as I progress the content rating may go up (she blushes) but I wanted to start off easy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Boiler Room

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on FFN so if you have followed me over from there thankyou so much :) I just found this interface easier to manage.

**August 31st 2003**

Fitz stared around the boiler room wondering how in God's name he ended up here, he had promised his mother when he moved to America he wouldn't change, but it had only taken him a week to bow to the peer pressure. He was in what was essentially a nightclub, surrounded by hundreds of other nerds, he should, in theory feel like he belongs here. After all, that's what he had been told.

 

But with a majority of the other students being at least three years older than him, cadets needing at least one PhD to get in the door at the SHIELD academy of Science and Technology. Fitz still stood out like a sore thumb. Because while sure, many of his peers had graduated with their PhDs early at about 21 or 22, Fitz had had 2 by the time he was 17. So at barely 18 he was nearly the youngest to ever walk the halls of the academy. And he would have been too but, there was a girl who snuck in a last minute application and got accepted, who just so happened to be a few months younger than Fitz. Something Simmons.

He continued to stare around, his eyes settling on the beer he had been warming nicely in his hands for about an hour now, hardly registering the conversation of the lads around him. The other cadets in his dorm had managed to coax him out of his room for the last night of induction week before they were partnered off and really had to knuckle down. When they found out Fitz was 18 they told him he was 'technically legal' because 'Don't you Brits start young across the pond?' He couldn't deny it, so he let Nathan, the cadet from next door, buy him a beer.

He continued to look down and twiddle his thumbs as he mouthed the lyrics to the song blaring in the background, Crashed the Wedding by Busted. Back home he would have and should have been ashamed to know the words as they were a group definitely popularized by teenage girls but they were a uniquely British group so he didn't feel the need to be embarrassed.

Above the noise he could just about hear the conversation turning to him, and whether he was excited to be part of the first interdepartmental partnership at the academy. Which made him think that, yeah he was, but the reason partners came from the same department was so that they could help eachother with study too, a notion that made him anxious, he had always studied by himself but he had a feeling there would be a different approach when it was training to become an agent. He also began to think it was time for him to socialize as the flow of conversation moved onto who his partner was.

* * *

 

Simmons sat at the edge of their table, dipping in and out of conversation with the other girls, but was admittedly growing bored as the babble moved on to who had slept with who last year and what teachers they were going to have to flirt with to bring their grades up this year. Simmons began to think that sure it would be bad enough to be stuck in a dorm with the other freshman, who were already at least three years older than her, she would much rather that than be stuck in the senior dorm.

She was pretty sure they just asked her out to be polite but she wasn't exactly in the position to decline anyway, only a week into school and she was still going to spend Sunday night doing study. But her late application hadn't left the academy much choice and it was either senior girls or the freshman boys' dorm. Needless to say Simmons hardly interacted with people let alone people of the opposite gender. Which brought her to another daunting thought. Her partner for this year was a boy, Leopold Fitz.

She felt a little bit over whelmed but excited about the prospect of working with somebody her own age, who apparently also hailed from the UK. The academy had done boy/girl partnerships before, of course. But this was the first time they were going to be partnering anyone from biochem and informatics with anybody from mechanics and engineering. But Simmons had to trust that the academy knew what they were doing, and if they thought that the two of them could carry their own weight and churn out a few handy inventions, who was she to question them.

Deep in thought, Simmons toyed with her necklace, passing it between fingers and thinking about home, Christ she had only been gone a week and she already missed it like crazy. Suddenly her attention was drawn back to reality as a song that reminded her of home screamed over the chatter, Crashed the Wedding by Busted, never would she consider herself a fan of the boy band but for a minute it did bring her back to Uni and even though her parents weren't there, it did give her some level of comfort. She let her necklace fall back against her chest and just absorbed the music, until she noticed something.

At the booth next to theirs was a group of freshman guys, and even though they were all deep in conversation, one stood out like a sore thumb, and not just because he was clearly younger than the rest. But because he was…. Singing? Dear God, he was mouthing the words to a BUSTED song! That must be Leopold Fitz she thought, who else but a brit would know the words?

As the corners of her mouth hitched up and she giggled inwardly to herself. Had he no shame? ... Meh, she conceded, neither did she. But her curiosity intensified as he was forced into conversation, she wondered what they were talking about. After only a few seconds he blushed crimson, the whole table erupted into laughter and the two cadets at either side of him pushed him between eachother playfully. Probably some kind of immature and boyish locker room talk she decided, but in that moment she also decided she respected him for being embarrassed and not playing along with whatever it was. Hmm... curious and curiouser.


	2. A Thousand Miles Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Shit, shit, shit shit…. SHIT!' He shouted inwardly as he realised she was motioning for him to come over and join in. 'What in the name of God do you do in this situation?', he asked himself …. 'Oh yeah, move you plonker! GO'.

Not long after the laughter died down, the boy she assumed was Fitz, left the table and headed for the bar. Most cadets chose to go by their last names so it was a safe bet that he did too. She could see him waiting awkwardly at the bar and sensed that he was just as uncomfortable here as she was. 

Simmons shifted in her seat, tugging at the hem of her dress. She had borrowed it from one of the girls at her table because apparently of the few dresses she brought with her to the academy, none of them were deemed 'special enough' for her first night in the boiler room. Whatever the hell that meant.

What she was lended was an emerald green dress, thankfully with long sleeves, that zipped all the way up the front. Which on first thought made her think it sounded slutty but on first sight, Simmons was fine with, because the neck seemed reasonably high.

However what she didn't account for was her boobs being bigger than Viv's, and with her limited social knowledge on discussing undergarments and the fact it was the longest she had ever interacted with a group of girls. When they asked what size her boobs were and she replied with 'just a D cup' they recoiled at her nonchalant response. If she wasn't mistaken a couple of them seemed jealous, not that it mattered anyway, the only time she ever showed cleavage was when she wore a cami to bed.

And now apparently. Because she was told that she was either wearing the dress or THEY were doing her hair and makeup and she would be damned if she left somebody else responsible for her face. Simmons didn't consider herself superficial but she did enjoy doing her makeup, it gave her some semblance of normalcy, sort of a teenage girl feeling. But she also didn't like to lash it on and she got the impression that her dorm mates did.

After sliding around on the leather seat for a few minutes, she got into a semi comfortable position and in a last ditch attempt to preserve her modesty, Simmons slightly pulled up the neckline of the dress and draped her hair over her chest. Ahh…. Much better, she thought as she gripped at her pendant and leaned back into the conversation.

Until suddenly she was swooped up with her bunch and dragged onto the dance floor to join in as all the girls wailed along to A Thousand Miles, Simmons cringed, more at the song choice than anything. But she reminded herself she had no shame and so forced herself to jump around with them.

* * *

Fitz didn't care if it meant paying he just needed to get away from the table…. That conversation was growing too …. Well he didn't know what it was. But he did know he didn't like it so he was currently standing at the bar waiting to pick up another few beers for the others. He had borrowed Nathans ID, even though there was really no need, the boiler room was apparently a secret establishment and because it was run by students they didn't particularly care how old you were as long as they got a decent tip, he just felt weird because he WAS still under 21.

As he waited, his thoughts went back to the conversation, 'Dude I've seen her around, she's a bit prudish but I'm thinking she's stacked', Jason had said.

And then a guy whose name he had learned was Rory had followed up with, 'I'm sure Fitzy could check that one out for us, we could take bets, he's bound to bang her before the year's out'.

Fitz's face had flamed and screwed up, Jesus Christ, this was a 22 year old MAN, five years older than Simmons, what the hell was wrong these guys? How could they talk about someone they didn't even know so badly? Especially somebody like her, from what he'd heard, the things Simmons's had accomplished in the past 3 years amounted to what they probably wouldn't even accomplish in their life time. Fitz was offended FOR her. He was also overwhelmingly nervous to meet her, he had never had a friend, let alone a partner and the idea of being stuck with her for the next four years…. For better or for worse…. It kind of terrified him. What if he made a bad impression, unfortunately for her, she wouldn't be able to ignore him and people tended to find him difficult to be around.

He was snapped from his train of thought when he was startled by some very high pitched giggles. He turned his attention toward the direction it was coming from and saw a table of senior girls all throwing their heads back and cackling.

But what really caught his attention was a girl, who looked to be around his age….was that even possible, at a table ful of seniors? Fumbling with the neckline of her dress and trying to fix her hair. 'Was that Simmons?' he asked himself. He shook the thought from his head. Hardly. This girl wasn't surrounded by freshmen and was also notably not a prude, he decided as she was pulled up toward the dance floor and her hair fell back behind her shoulders to reveal what she was wearing.

Five minutes later he hadn't noticed that the two bottles he had requested were resting behind him on the bar and that he was still blatantly watching the girl dancing. But this time it was more…. Erratic and joking than it was forced as she flailed around to Want you back by the Jackson 5. Even then when she wasn't flailing and genuinely just dancing, not badly either, he added to himself, she pulled the most ridiculous faces as she was moving, drawing laughs from her friends. Who were still bobbing around politely but clearly not as into this song as they were into the corny drabble they were screeching earlier. She was cool but far too outgoing for his speed.

'Shit, shit, shit shit…. SHIT!' He shouted inwardly as he realised she was motioning for him to come over and join in. 'What in the name of God do you do in this situation?', he asked himself …. 'Oh yeah, move you plonker! GO'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first four chapters are being published today (the day I joined AO3) the rest will follow :)


	3. How drunk are you exactly?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luckily for him, Simmons spoke before he had to think….
> 
> Obviously noting the blush on his cheeks she remarked, 'Well at least you have shame'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, I know there is slight cursing and the fic can get a bit crude but I'm trying to maintain that Fitzsimmons are 17/18 and just because they're prodigies doesn't mean they don't struggle with the same insecurities and peer pressures that all other teenagers do. I hope you enjoy!

Simmons smiled as she saw him take her invitation of a dance and start to walk over, she noted that he looked nervous. Honestly, she was too and dancing isn't really her thing, well that's a lie, dancing is most definitely her thing. Just not in public, she found it drew attention to her and in the past she realised that her age and gender did that well enough that it didn't need the extra boost. But these girls were relentless even if they didn't appreciate the merits of the Jackson 5, they had awoken the beast.

Simmons steeled herself as he neared, she hadn't realised she was that nervous. This poor boy was going to be stuck with her, was going to have to humour her and her ideas for the next 4 years of his life. Nobody had ever been able to stomach her for that long, with the exception of her parents of course, but that was their job. There was a lot riding on this moment, she knew she had to make a good impression, it was Leopold Fitz for crying out loud, he was so accomplished. Granted, she also had 2 PhDs by the time he had but she read his dissertations, this guy was a fucking genius, a prodigy, there were no two ways about it. And sure she had been told that she was too and she believed it, but there was no way Simmons was going to be able to hold her own in a conversation about circuit boards or robotics.

'Whoa, hold up', she thought, 'am I fangirling over my partner? Get an effing grip Jemma!' Simmons knew that in order to have any kind of a working relationship with Fitz they were going to have to look at each other as equals. 'That's something that can wait until class', she reminded herself, 'Tonight is just an introduction, take it easy, don't scare him off…. Not that he has choice... Shit he's almost here'.

* * *

'Holy fricking crap, what the hell is she thinking? This has to be a joke, a freshman prank. What would a girl who looks like THAT want with ME?' Fitz couldn't put a stop to his runaway train of thought. This never happened to him, ever. He was almost there…. Ok, fuck, he was there, and she was staring up at him expectantly and he couldn't for the life of him remember what people did in this type of situation.

'Hi', she blurted. Oh, that's it….

'Hi', he replied. Well that was easier than he thought. He could tell that she was struggling to come up with the next part of their conversation. But he was still shocked and pleasantly surprised by the dainty English accent, Fitz didn't realise anyone besides him and Simmons came to SciTech from Britain.

'So you're a freshman', she said but it came as more of a statement than a question.

'How drunk are you exactly?' Fitz asked, he knew it sounded rude and that wasn't his intention, but he was growing very certain that this small talk had to be part of a freshman prank, he was just waiting for all the girls she was with to turn around and laugh at his failed attempt to have an actual conversation with a girl.

* * *

Ok, well that caught her off guard, but Simmons knew that it came from a good place, Fitz was probably just as nervous as she was. And then flashing neon signs and blaring sirens went off in her head as it dawned on her that while she had figured out who he was, he more than likely hadn't copped it yet. Well now she felt bad, he looked so overwhelmed, and dare she think, guarded? She had to say something to calm him down.

'Not at all, I'm just a nice person', she smiled, 'and you looked sort of lost over there.' She replied as she unconsciously reached up to play with her necklace.

'C'mon seriously?' Fitz questioned, he seemed a little less intimidated now, Simmons inwardly high fived herself as she realised she had made him chuckle. Even while shouting over the music Simmons wasn't sure she could be heard so she leaned into him. 'No seriously, I'm not old enough', she chided as she smirked down at the beers he was carrying. He shrugged his shoulders unabashedly, mission accomplished, she thought, he no longer looks like a deer caught in head lights. Now or never, it's time for the kill shot she decided.

'Not even in England'. She continued admittedly.

She watched as a look of realisation crossed his features, then if she wasn't mistaken, a slight bit of shock and confusion. He rose to his full height which was notably a good few inches above hers and pointed at her.

'You…. You must be….' He stuttered. 'Simmons, Jemma Simmons,' she chirped as she beamed up at him. He nodded as though it would make the information truer, as though he were not believing it. At least she had succeeded in disarming him, she chuckled and it snapped him to attention.

Putting a hand to his chest he replied, 'Oh I'm….'

Simmons cut him off again, it looked like he needed the help. 'Leopold Fitz, I know'. She removed her hand from her chain to shake his.

Fitz accepted the gesture as he said, 'How'd you guess that?' He narrowed his eyes at her accusingly, the corners of his mouth hitching upwards, it seemed he had caught up with himself and was growing amused with their encounter.

She blushed. 'I wish I could say for your sake it was the accent', raising an eyebrow she continued, 'but I was watching you earlier and you were singing along to Busted'.

* * *

Fitz nodded comprehendingly, he wasn't sure why he blushed. Was it because he was caught or because she had been watching him? Regardless, there was no denying it and he had some damage control to do…. he was inevitably going to embarrass himself at some stage but he didn't think it would be before he even opened his mouth to her. Luckily for him, Simmons spoke before he had to think….

Obviously noting the blush on his cheeks she remarked, 'Well at least you have shame'.

Fitz cursed himself, 'Could this get any worse?' He asked inwardly.

Before he had to respond one of the senior girls tapped Simmons on the shoulder and said, 'Babe, you better get going, you have early class in the morning'. She nodded at Fitz before leaving.

'Only a week and you're already fitting in!' he nodded approvingly.

She waved the thought off. 'Not exactly, it's their cruel trick. They make it sound like a term of endearment but it's really because they're eight years older than me'.

'God, she's honest' Fitz thought to himself.

'But', she continued, 'the time will come when they won't make fun of me for that. They'll be jealous. They'll be jealous, wrinkly, old hags'.

He chortled. 'Okay, and she's funny'. He continued to think that they're partnership might not be so ill-fated.

'Well I'll see you tomorrow, yeah? It's chem lab, so it should be interesting…. I hear the professor is pretty hard to impress'. She sounded so sincere as she said it and affectionately gripped his arm.

The way she had to draw her eyes up to meet his made them widen, they were full of excitement and through the hazel, Fitz could see tiny flecks of green and orange. He'd never seen anything like them, unique, fitting he thought.

'Yeah, I'll see you there', he replied as he grinned down at Simmons. Then she turned and headed up the stairs and out the door.

That had most definitely floored Fitz. He had expected to be a nervous wreck meeting his partner for the first time but she seemed so genuinely nice and happy to be working with him. He also was not expecting Simmons to look the way she did. He had been expecting the stereotypical nerd, with thick rimmed librarian glasses, a face full of acne and a snortish guffaw rather than a laugh. Although, Fitz didn't feel that he particularly adhered to that stereotype, at first glance you would know he was a dork but he got the impression that his appearance surprised people when they met. So he wasn't sure why he thought Simmons would follow suite and now he felt bad for judging her. The only thing that screamed DORK about her was her demeanour, the way she openly mocked herself, an ingrained trait in most nerds, they tend to find if they mock themselves others didn't. But Simmons was pretty by any standard. With shiny waves of auburn hair, her open smile, gleaming teeth and her general warmth. Definitely not forgetting her striking eyes. Simmons was certainly a sight to behold, especially in that dress.

Fitz's nerves were calmed a bit about the following day, now that the task of meeting his partner was handled, but she had reminded him about the professor. He too had heard things about that class and Fitz knew that he needed to bring his A game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit, I made a bit of a boo boo, in that I had never seen the 'Simmons had boyfriends' deleted scene before this week. And I am a firm believer that if a scene was shot, just because it wasn't shown doesn't mean it didn't happen. So for anyone still reading, expect some clashing for the next couple of chapters.


	4. And so it Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone was arguing the points he was making ….and granted the biological element of it wasn't his expertise, but Fitz new damn well what he was talking about when it came to chemistry. He was dumbfounded and a little bit mortified as he realised the someone who had interrupted him was sitting a few rows in front and it was his partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to keep this intro short so I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bit rocky at the moment but we'll see Fitzsimmons take shape soon.

**Monday September 1st 2003**

The morning of her first chemical kinetics class Simmons woke up feeling more relieved than she'd expected to, especially going to her first lecture. She was pretty sure it had to do with the fact that she'd gotten meeting Fitz out of the way last night. They wouldn't have to work together for at least another couple of weeks, that morning was simply supposed to be a quick hand shake and introduction. But Simmons was glad that she'd gotten it out of the way because she really began to build it up in her imagination and work herself up over it. She also felt more comfortable in her own skin, Simmons never before appreciated that she got to dress herself but after last night she did.

She had also been thinking a lot about her encounter with Fitz. He had come off guarded at first but after she introduced herself, he loosened up, he wasn't 100% comfortable in himself but he shone through a little. From what Simmons could tell Fitz seemed, nervous but no more than her, after he found out who she was he probably felt the same responsibility to make an effort as she did because he seemed less, stressed, for lack of a better word. He also seemed…. Funny. No, he hadn't gone out of his way to make her laugh, but she got a rise out of him a couple of times so at least she knew Fitz had a sense of humour, similar to hers at that.

Simmons also realised that, when dressed as she chose, they had a very similar sense of style. He had probably dressed it down a tad last night, being in a club and what not, because he was in a pair of dark navy jeans, a plaid shirt and black converse. Dressed as he was he seemed a lot more approachable than some of the other male cadets, with their leather jackets and t-shirts emblazoned with the crests of every heavy metal band known to man. Simmons also found that Fitz's eyes were quite calming to her, she had never found that in anyone before. The sandy brown colour of his curly hair made the brilliant blue of his eyes stand out, they were in a way, mesmerizing, and a great distraction from her nerves at the time. Overall Fitz just seemed warm, like a genuinely nice person.

Simmons arrived into a fairly full lecture hall and as she leisurely strolled to a desk, she could see that as per usual people started filling from the back of the room up towards the screen. That was something Simmons was never able to fathom…. People strive to get their education but when it comes to class they want to be as far away from the professor as physically possible. It just made no sense to her.

As she made her way to the seat, near the front, she had set her sights on, Simmons caught Fitz's stare from a couple of rows back and gave him a smile before sitting down. She wasn't quite ready to make the bold move of sitting next to him, they had only just met and Simmons didn't want him thinking that she was co-dependent already. Plus, there were two boys from his table last night sitting to one side of him and she wasn't pushed to make conversation with them.

* * *

Fitz clocked Simmons the second she walked through the door and immediately felt that he was looking at a different person. She seemed less self-aware as she scoured for a place to sit, he wondered why that was. It struck Fitz, 'it's just like looking at myself but, well…. With boo…. I mean without a pe…. Christ…. But a girl'.

He inwardly face palmed himself as he realised he had reached a new low, stuttering inside his own head. But the resemblance was seriously startling. They were wearing virtually the same outfit, a navy sweater with the exception that Simmons' was a V-neck and showed off the open collar of her pin-stripe shirt. How did he know it was pin-striped? He could see it, as it was rolled up at the cuffs, around the arms of her sweater, much like his was. She was wearing that with a pair of light blue skinny jeans and a pair of lace up ankle boots. But most notably, Simmons donned a tie. Not something a lot of students usually went for, but when Fitz started college his mother suggested that it might make him seem older to wear one, maybe Simmons was doing the same.

It was a welcome change from the night before, God knows if she was going to have that kind of a dress sense all the time, Fitz was going to have is work cut out for him in the self-control/blush/and general teenage boy departments. The thought of Simmons just seemed less daunting to him now. She even smiled before taking her seat.

Out of the corner of his eye Fitz could see that their lecturer, Professor Higgins had come into the hall. He had taken his spot at the lectern and had introduced himself and their first topic of discussion for the term. 'Alright, you have to impress him, just focus', Fitz said to himself as Dr. Higgins continued to address the class.

Once Fitz had gotten back from the boiler room he had torn through his books and revised everything he could find in relation to their term syllabus. He knew he needed a good name for himself in order to be assigned the best project tasks. Over the encouraging but distracting chatter in his head, Fitz could hear Dr. Higgins open the discussion of mechanisms in organic compounds up to the class. 'This is your shot', he steeled himself before opening his mouth.

Seconds later Fitz found himself lively discussing the topic of propagation in free radical mechanisms, and making decent headway, when somebody ….interrupted him! Someone was arguing the points he was making ….and granted the biological element of it wasn't his expertise, but Fitz new damn well what he was talking about when it came to chemistry. He was dumbfounded and a little bit mortified as he realised the someone who had interrupted him was sitting a few rows in front and it was his partner.

* * *

'Holy shit, why the hell did I just do that?!', Simmons screamed at herself, it would have been easy to scream out loud, yes, but she managed to confine it to her thoughts. She had just squashed ANY headway her partner was making with their professor in what could only be described as a very ill-advised dick move.

Simmons didn't know how she was going to explain this to him or make it better but just as she craned her head around to look at Fitz, she saw the sheepishness fade away as something caught his attention. Something she said. Simmons didn't even realise that she was still talking as she turned around, how did she always manage to do that? In that moment she saw something spark in Fitz as, in a shocking twist of fate he began to argue back?! Of course he would and Simmons knew it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do but it spurred her on just as much. It became a very passionate debate.

A debate that five minutes later had to be stopped by Dr. Higgins, as it began to move out of the topic of mechanisms entirely, to subjects so specialised and far a field that most of the other cadets in the room hadn't even heard of them. Dr. Higgins even looked a little flustered at one stage.

Simmons was confident in saying that any calm that she had found in Fitz's eyes when they met was gone and it had been replaced by challenge. Simmons knew why he was annoyed, he was simply trying to get noticed so that they would get decent task assignments, the last thing he needed was for his own partner to show him up.

'Well it's great to see that you're comfortable enough in your partnership already to debate so freely!' Dr. Higgins remarked.

'Wait how in the bloody hell did he know we knew each other?', Simmons asked herself as it dawned on her that they had used each other's names quite liberally in their little argument. A low mumble and assortment of giggles was elicited from the class as they caught up to what had just happened. 'This can't be good.' Simmons mumbled out loud as she turned in her seat to gauge the damage.

* * *

'Well that was unexpected', Fitz conceded, at first he was worried about having made Simmons uncomfortable but then he grasped what the rest of the class was thinking. That Simmons was the genius and he was her unwilling sidekick.

He urged himself to look forward towards the professor and as he did, Fitz could see Simmons staring back at him pleadingly. She probably felt just as awkward as he had, but in fairness to himself, she was the one who engaged and she had gotten just as riled as he had. Like it or not, partnerships are built on level ground and at the moment, that was far from where they were. The next chance Fitz had to redeem himself, he was going to take it. It was simply up to Simmons whether she was going to put up a resistance or not. And of course if she didn't, it would pass over quickly but Fitz was adamant that any work relationships he was going to have, were going to be equal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, I wanted my intro short but I couldn't post this and NOT acknowledge that it was coming from beyond the grave…. Because I'm pretty sure I died and went to heaven when Marvel did their drop during the week! WTF were they thinking?! Are they trying to kill their fandom? It's my midterm, in a year that basically decides whether or not I get to go to college and I spent the ENTIRE thing on Tumblr. I've even gone so far as to change the character names in draft fics because I'm not bothered to write English shorts as well. Something tells me I have my priorities wrong?!


	5. Chicken.... Meet Bridge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viv waved her hands in front of her, dismissing Simmons. ‘That’s not the problem anyway, stop being such a chicken and avoiding the inevitable’. She smirked, ‘In fact that’s what I’m going to call you from now on’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about it taking so long but better late than never. After seeing the deleted scene I decided to take inspiration from my favourite romance novel, 'Wallbanger' by Alice Clayton. It has an abundance of fluff and the two main characters are nearly always frustrated with eachother. It made sense.

Fitz wasn’t certain whether or not it surprised him but Simmons did not take his retaliation lying down. Over the next week they continued their bickering and open debates back and forth during chemical kinetics. Well, they were open discussions so long as people were able to understand. Again, Simmons was so hell bent on disproving him all the time that she would pluck up the most obscure and complicated topics to build her arguments on, hoping he wouldn’t understand; but Fitz managed to keep up. Every so often he’d even throw a curve ball her way and ask how she’d explain something in relation to electronics or energy conversions. But admittedly he was growing tired of it, for Fitz it was the first time he’d ever been matched, intellectually anyway, and he hated to admit that it was challenging him in a way he never had been to stay on Simmons’ level. Luckily, they hadn’t been given any project assignments yet, but for the sake of his ego, Fitz had been hitting the books nearly every night just to cover all of his bases. He hoped that when the time came they would both bite their tongues and get the work done even if it was to spite each other. But today’s lecture had revealed that there had unfortunately been no change of heart.

* * *

**Tuesday September 9th 2003**

Fitz ghosted out of the lecture hall, consumed by his thoughts, hands tucked into his pockets, all the tension in his body gathered in his shoulders and the furrow of his eyebrows. He wasn’t quite certain who came out on top in today’s battle, but he was pissed off either way. As he stalked through the quad, the cool September air abating the frustration that had flushed his cheeks, Fitz passed Rory, the jackass from the boiler room. If he was being honest with himself, there was a conscious effort made on Fitz’s part to avoid Rory but there’s not much to be done when you share a hallway, kitchen, common room and classes with someone. Rory looked at Fitz with what seemed like concern but he wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk or put up with whatever misogynistic crap he was going to be showered with today. So Fitz decided to just blank him and keep walking, with no particular destination in mind.

Moments later Fitz felt a presence next to him but he barely had time to register it when Rory drawled from beside him, ‘What’s up Fitz?’ Fitz nodded his acknowledgment. ‘Another lovers spat?’

Of course he was going to take the least compassionate route possible, ‘What?’ He countered in a clipped tone. He really wasn’t in the mood for this.

‘I hear you’ve been getting pretty into it with that Simmons chick’, the corner of his mouth turned up. ‘And not in the way you’d want’. He finished by waggling his eyebrows and whacking Fitz squarely in the chest with the back of his hand.

Widening his eyes, more out of shock that someone could be so rude than just being annoyed, Fitz replied ‘God Rory, do you always have to be so crass?’

Maybe he just needed to chill but this was the first opportunity Fitz had had to vent and he couldn’t help but take it. ‘And I’m not getting into it with her, I’m just not going to sit back every time she tries to one up me in front of everyone in class. If we’re going to be partners it’s not fair that she have the upper hand’.

Fitz knew that wasn’t the turn Rory intended the conversation to take but he looked to be considering what Fitz had said and regarding his sudden honesty. He looked across at the angry engineer expectantly, his eyes carrying a slight smugness that suggested he knew something which Fitz didn’t. ‘Well does she?’ He put his arm out and stopped Fitz in his tracks.

‘What are you trying to say?’ He questioned Rory tilting his head in that general direction, trying to feign nonchalance. Was he seriously about to get a lecture on ethics and morals from a sexual harassment claim waiting to happen?

‘Look man, I’m just going off what I hear and at the moment it seems that you’re being just as stubborn as she is and I’m also told there’s no contest, so if a level playing field is what you’re after…. You got it’, Fitz’s jaw may have dropped a little. ‘All I’m saying is cut the bullshit’, Rory explained but then bit his tongue for a minute waiting to see if he’d overstepped the mark but Fitz was simply in awe at his honesty so Rory continued. ‘Simmons is probably the only person here who understands a word that you say. For crying out loud, she can keep up with you better than some of the professors. Cut her some slack, if not for your partnership at least think of your grade, you’ll get fuck all done if all you do is argue’. He clapped Fitz on the back, turned in the opposite direction and strutted off to class. He was just the kind of guy that walked with that confidence.

Fitz was dumbstruck, that could easily be the best advice he had gotten in his time at the academy…. And it came from Rory?!

Still standing moments later in the centre of the courtyard, Fitz was mulling over his thoughts when he did a double take. He turned to see Dean Weaver speaking with Simmons at the opposite end of the quad. She looked a bit frazzled. If there was one thing he’d learned about Simmons it was that she talked a good game, he wondered what the Dean had said that set her off.

As far as Fitz could tell, Weaver raised an eyebrow in question, Simmons gave a tight smile and sort of scrunched her nose.  If he could stand her he might have gone as far as to say it was adorable but he reminded himself of Rory's words, he was going to try, so he didn’t stop himself from thinking it. The older woman must have taken it as a response because they shook hands and she headed off toward the administration building. But Simmons’ reluctance to do what Weaver had asked became blatantly obvious when she clasped the back of her neck with both hands and scrunched her eyes shut.

* * *

Simmons forced her eyes open and unfurled her hands from around her neck, her nails had begun to dig into the skin there and the pain wasn’t helping her or making the butterflies in her stomach any less violent. Simmons was more than mildly pissed off, Fitz had of course continued his jibes at her today and generally argued anything that came out of her mouth. In fairness she had waged this little war in their first class together and he argued back, rightly so. But he hadn’t let up, and as unintentional as it was that she started it, Simmons wasn’t prepared to take it lying down.

Unfortunately that was the least of her worries today; Dean Weaver had sought her out to ask that she switch dorms. And not just rooms …. But buildings. A senior agent was going under cover at SciTech, Simmons wasn’t told why, apparently the less she knew the better. But the way it had been put to her was that there were no male level 5’s baby-faced enough to pass as freshman which meant that they would have to send in a woman as a senior. Long story short, Weaver had come to ask that Simmons move to the freshman boy’s dorm to make room for Ms. Rushman. To say she was intimidated, freaked and wary were all gross understatements.

Simmons took a step back, leaned against the wall of the botany building and let out a sigh. This was normally the time that she would weigh her options and try to come up with a way out, but since her options were basically move or leave, and leaving wasn’t an option, tomorrow whether she liked it or not Simmons was moving into the boy’s dorm. The only thing left for her to do was make peace with it. ‘Shit I have to pack!’ she mumbled as she rolled her head back against the wall, she felt the roughness of the concrete catch on her hair. Trying to force enthusiasm over her features she used her shoulders to push herself from the wall and strode, with purpose, toward her current room. All the while thinking about how she was going to deal with living with a bunch of guys, sharing a corridor, a kitchen, living area …. ‘Ooh but not bathrooms’. Freshman dorms had ensuites, that thought put a little bit of a spring back in her step.

It wasn’t until later when she was sitting cross legged on the floor folding garments and repacking her suitcase that it dawned on Simmons…. she was going to be sharing a wall with a boy as well, and young men were notorious for their loud video-gaming and nightly escapades. ‘Well shit’, she sighed to herself as she dropped forward and her face landed snuggly amongst her clothes. ‘Let the mortification and lack of study opportunities commence'. 

* * *

**Wednesday September 10th 2003**

Fitz jolted at the sound of his alarm clock. He pulled his eyes up to meet the only source of light in the room that was currently screaming at him to wake up. He had fallen asleep yet again at his desk, but it confused Fitz more than usual this morning because apparently he had bothered to get into pyjamas, just not to get into the bed.

6:30 a.m. He groaned at the sight, now realising that his sleeping schedule had truly gone to shit. Fitz dragged his arm up and slammed it down on the alarm clock. On only four hours sleep, Fitz could feel it was going to be what his mother called one of his ‘delicate days’. He had been up until 2 a.m. the previous night, between study and catching up on decent TV shows (nerdy British ones and not the dumb American soaps his mum used to make him watch for family bonding) he was stretched thin.

But that wasn’t all that had been playing on his mind, Fitz had been thinking a lot about the impending project assignments and he had been running scenarios through his head in which he and Simmons actually got along. They were few and far between but what they all had in common was him breaking the ice. Rory hadn’t been wrong and thinking back, Fitz knew that if he were Simmons he wouldn’t willingly let someone drag all of his hypotheses through the mud. One of them was going to have to drop the act sooner or later, for the sake of the grade of course.

Fitz would be lying if he said he wasn’t concerned. From what it seemed, Simmons had left the quad with renewed determination yesterday but in fairness it was after she had what seemed like a pretty long pep talk with herself. She didn’t look scared per say but Simmons was definitely shaken. He wondered if there was anything he could say to make it better. It could have been about her family and if there was any other cadet who had an idea of what it was like for Simmons to be at the academy, it was Fitz.

With that thought Fitz’s stomach let out a growl and it was then that he remembered he skipped dinner last night, not just because he was watching livestreams but also because he avoided cooking for himself at all costs and last night he was simply not that hungry. However, breakfast was something he could do; bowl, milk, cereal. Maybe toast with Nutella. But it wasn’t rocket science. Which was already so much easier than he was used to.

Just before he ventured out of his room Fitz heard a hollow drone, like someone was dragging furniture around a room and then a light bang on his wall. ‘A new neighbour’, Fitz thought. ‘This guy must be a damn clairvoyant if they’re willing to let him into the academy after Simmons, especially since he’s already missed two weeks of lectures’.

Fitz opened the door and peered out into the hallway, which to his surprise appeared empty except for a few of his neighbour’s belongings of which washing detergent stood out. ‘So he’s clean’, Fitz snorted at the absurdity of a teenage boy doing his own laundry, his was being expertly rotated so that it could be put back into his bag for his mother to wash at Christmas. There was also a box labelled ‘fragile’ which Fitz regarded for a moment and a suitcase that could house a small monkey, he thought. He was going to knock and see if his new neighbour needed a hand but Fitz remembered that he was still clad in his tartan pyjamas (they reminded him of home but may not make the best first impression) and at that moment his stomach took precedent as it let out another ungodly rumble. Besides, as the cadet was unpacking his belongings, he heard giggles that were distinctly female and he concluded that the new guy’s girlfriend was there to lend a hand. With that conclusion Fitz turned and headed down the corridor to the kitchen with the prospect of Lucky Charms sweetening his thoughts.

* * *

Simmons had just pushed the desk up against the wall and she flopped back on to her new bed, wrecked from the early move and lugging around heavy boxes, she narrowly missed hitting her head off the wall. Viv giggled at her somewhat uncontrollably. ‘Not your week is it Jemma?’, she asked.

‘Don’t get me started Viv’, she lifted herself up onto her elbows to look at her new friend. Vivian Franklin. Sure she was a senior, but until Fitz and Simmons came to the academy she had been the youngest to be accepted at 19 and it had only taken her three years to gain ‘senior’ status so she was much closer in age to Simmons than anybody else on campus besides Fitz. And she had also been generous enough to offer help with moving all of Simmons’ belongings across campus at 6 a.m.

‘Do you think Fitz is in this building?’ Viv continued to question.

‘It’s very likely, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. We’re not exactly simpatico at the moment’. Simmons explained. ‘You just need to talk it out with him Jem. You’re both as unreasonable as the other. But you were partnered for a reason, trust the system’.

‘Gee thanks Dr. Phil, but I think I’d rather just do our own work and try to coordinate when necessary…. It’s not only the debates in class I think he just can’t stand me’. Simmons continued to explain, it caused Viv’s eyes to almost become lost in her head. ‘And since when do you call me Jem? Or Jemma for that matter?’

Viv pretended to look offended but her chuckle betrayed her. ‘One, you’re being stubborn and silly. And two, you call me Viv’.

‘Everyone calls you Viv. I don’t think anyone besides my parents and Weaver call me Jemma’. Simmons exaggerated her tone to convey her point.

Viv waved her hands in front of her, dismissing Simmons. ‘That’s not the problem anyway, stop being such a chicken and avoiding the inevitable’. She smirked, ‘In fact that’s what I’m going to call you from now on’.

‘What?’ That one went completely over Simmons’ head.

Viv shrugged and explained, ‘If you don’t like me calling you Jem then I’m going to call you Chicken’.

‘Oh God’, and with that Simmons pushed herself up off the bed and stood toe to toe with her. She gave Viv a pleading look, she could almost hear the cogs turning in her rivals head. Until Viv broke the silence….

‘Chi-cken’, she enunciated it, clicking her tongue as she playfully whispered it to Simmons in a challenging tone and widened her eyes á la Joey.

Trying to hold her own but failing Simmons burst into a fit of laughter and Viv joined in seconds later. Catching her breath Simmons managed, ‘Go you’ll be late for class’.

She nudged the other girl towards the door and opened it for her. ‘Thank you so much for your help, without you, I would have been moving things for the next two days’, Simmons smiled sincerely.

‘Not a bother, really’.

* * *

The two of them stepped out into the hall and were saying their goodbye’s when Simmons turned to face down the corridor and her expression faltered.  Viv followed her gaze and a sound escaped the back of her throat that Simmons wasn’t sure was a laugh but was positive it conveyed how screwed she was, and Viv was enjoying it. Because walking toward them from the other end of the hall was Fitz. He looked homely, he donned a pair of tartan pyjama bottoms and a white t-shirt and he balanced a plate of half eaten Nutella toast on top of a bowl of cereal. He was also wearing some of the Nutella on his face, which didn’t surprise Simmons in the slightest.

Viv leaned into Simmons and whispered to the side of her face. ‘How will the chicken cross the bridge?’

She broke into yet another fit of laughter, ‘Jesus Christ, go now or you’ll be late.’ She pushed Viv down the hall.

She turned back to Simmons and with a confused look in her eyes said, ‘My name’s not Jesus, it’s Vivian’, before narrowing them.

Simmons just rolled her eyes and shook her head at Viv. ‘God I know how to pick ‘em’, she said as she sank down to her knees and opened the box labelled ‘fragile’. And ‘3…. 2….’

* * *

‘Hi Simmons’, Fitz said staring down at his toast.

‘Holy Crap’, Simmons was shocked and confused, not only had he initiated contact but he didn’t seem surprised to see her in the boys’ dorm.  She gazed up at him.  

‘Hi Fitz’, she said, increasingly surprised at the fact he was still standing there talking to her.

Viv placed a tentative hand on Simmons' shoulder, ‘See ya later Chicken, let me know how it goes’. She winked and took off down the hall but not before nodding a quick acknowledgment to Fitz.

‘Was that Vivian Franklin?’ He asked, a tad incredulously.

‘Yeah, she uh…. Viv was just helping me unpack….’, still sitting cross-legged on the floor, Simmons pointed her thumb toward the still ajar door. ‘I moved in this morning’.

He nodded, seeming to have grasped what she said but Fitz still looked a little puzzled. ‘And she calls you Chicken?’

Simmons had begun to toy with her necklace, Fitz stared at it quizzically.  ‘Again, not exactly a term of endearment, she’s just trying to spin it that way’. Simmons laughed at the thought that the name really was sticking.

‘Well it’s good to see you’re making friends…. And influencing people’, Fitz said with a tight smile.

She dropped the pendant and considered what he had said. Simmons couldn’t tell if he was just terrible at making jokes or he was being snarky simply because it was her but she decided it wasn’t the former. It was simply too good to be true. But in the spirit of not causing any more friction than necessary she replied with….

‘It’s nice to have someone to talk to’. The tightness in his facial features slackened and some of the tension Fitz had been harbouring in his frame left, was Simmons correct in thinking he was worried? Maybe that was simply a joke gone wrong. Fitz bowed his head in her direction and turned to enter a room that Simmons noticed was right next door to hers. It was Fitz, Fitz is who she was going to be sharing a wall with. ‘So much for avoiding the inevitable’, she shouted inwardly.  'And that's why he isn't surprised to see me unpacking', it dawned on her.  

She picked up the box she had just opened, in hindsight it probably would’ve made more sense to check its contents after carrying it into her room but she was a little bit flustered. As she struggled to balance the box on her knee, her sonic screwdriver replica dropped to the floor. She cursed, not quite sure of what she said though as she was having a bit of an outer body experience. But saving her from the struggle of picking it up, Fitz bent down, picked it up and stared at it in amusement for a moment before placing it back into the box for her.

‘Thanks’, Simmons said quickly.

‘No problem’, he said, clearly trying to make an effort.

‘You’ve got chocolate on your face Fitz’. Simmons giggled as she kicked the suitcase into her room and he reached up to wipe the corner of his mouth.

‘Oh eh, thanks Simmons’. He blushed and she looked over and gave a laugh that only reached her shoulders as she stared at his mouth. Making him go crimson.

‘You missed it Fitz’, she said as she busied herself through the door and shut it behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for your reviews, please keep leaving them, I love the encouragement. I have pretty big exams startiing in a few weeks but I hope to have the next chapter up next week, I actually wrote it before this one, all it needs is some tweaking.


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